an online network

SPIRIT UNBOUNDED

working towards human rights in the emerging Catholic Church

We are a global, ecumenical group calling for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to reform its structures and teaching to better reflect Jesus’s message, and meanwhile aiming to protect the marginalised ourselves.

The hierarchical model is broken. And yet the Spirit is unbounded. 

In the words of St Teresa of Avila, ‘Christ has no body now but ours’. Join forces to help us bring about an inclusive, just, and compassionate church.

IN OCTOBER 2023 115 SPEAKERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD CAME TOGETHER - DISCOVER THEM HERE

Communion does not mean consensus… Freedom of speech is the key!!!

Mary McAleese

MINISTRY
“Go slowly, but go! Implement your own ministry. There is so much to do and Jesus is waiting”.
Martha Heizer
Dr Martha Heizer
Co-founder We Are Church International Austria
JUSTICE FOR THE OTHER - indigenous rights, creation care, social action
“Everything we have depends on the wellness of Mother Earth. Papatuanuku – Mother Earth. When Mum’s not well the whole family is not well”.
Pa Ropata
Pa Ropata
Tiwaiwaka, Aotearoa New Zealand
AUTHORITY
“We need new communicative dynamics - co-responsibility and participation go together.”
Rafael Luciani
Prof. Rafael Luciani
Andrés Bello Catholic University of Caracas Venezuela
ETHICS
“For most of us to be human is to be in relationship. What most of us live for”.
Bernárd Lynch
Rev Dr Bernárd Lynch
Activist for AIDS/HIV Ireland/New York
CLERICAL ABUSE
“It is our duty to break the silence… Being holy in our daily lives means protecting victims and fighting for them”.
Benedicta Stella Fortunae photo - Benedicta Stella
Benedicta Stella Fortunae
Indonesia, youth member of Asian Lay Leaders Forum S. Korea
WOMEN
“The hierarchy can no longer hide behind scripture, tradition, and freedom of religion to justify the violation of women’s rights”.
Nontando Hadebe
Nontando Hadebe
Lay feminist theologian, South Africa
HUMAN RIGHTS
"Let us preserve freedom. Let us cherish freedom. Freedom of conscience, religious freedom, the freedom of each person, each family, each people, which is what gives rise to rights."
-Pope Francis

OUR COMPANIONS

To date we are an unprecedented gathering of 49 groups, many of them large umbrella organisations. You can see us all here. Find groups who share your focus and combine forces. 

Use our calendar to alert people to your webinars etc. 

Email contributions for our monthly newsletter to hello@spiritunbounded.org by the last day of the month

To sign up for the newsletter click here.

Donations gratefully appreciated here.

This PowerPoint tells the story of the emergence of Spirit Unbounded

MISSION STATEMENT​

  • To bring together a global, lay-led Christian network for transformational change, firm in the belief of the equal worth and value of all people.
  • To welcome all reform-minded people, including people from ecumenical communities, the religious & clergy. Women leaders, absent from the hierarchical RCC are especially welcomed. We’re grateful also for support from other Faiths.
  • To explore theological questions about sexuality, gender and identity, challenging the ideology underpinning the myths of the Teaching Church.
  • Drawing on the lessons of civil rights movements, to be bold in our pursuit of radical and incremental reform.
  • To denounce clerical power abuse in all its forms.
  • To progress towards a safe, just, inclusive Catholic Church, where all human rights are embraced, is our current focus.
  • In spite of Pope Francis’s vision of a Synodal Church, the recent Synthesis Report of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops shows that, for the present, progress can only come from the grass roots, from people like yourself.